Contents

Overview

Like Kuronuma before him, Mugal is sadistic, calculating, and brutal. But while Kuronuma was very laid-back and calm, Mugal is much more serious and prone to fits of rage, as seen when he whips several of his men and orders their execution after a prisoner escapes.

In Godzilla: Legends, Mugal is portrayed as a less sadistic and more sympathetic character compared to his film counterpart, as he says that he does not want to be seen as a monster, but just wants to save his people before their homeworld is destroyed.

History

Mugal traveled to Earth to head the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens' latest attempt to conquer the planet. While meeting with his second-in-command Tsuda in Tokyo, Mugal revealed his plan to completely destroy the city and rebuild it as a futuristic utopia. Tsuda suggested to Mugal that they recruit a "useful" Earthling to their cause, Dr. Shinzo Mafune. Tsuda explained that Mafune was once a prominent marine biologist who was shunned by the scientific community after his genius advanced too far for them, and for this reason hated humanity. Tsuda also said that the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens had saved Mafune's daughter Katsura after she was injured in a lab accident, and Mafune therefore owed them a debt. Mugal sent Tsuda to Mafune's laboratory to acquire his assistance. Tsuda brought Mafune and Katsura to the aliens' base in the mountains, where Mugal greeted them. Mugal proposed an agreement: the aliens could utilize the monster Titanosaurus, who was under Mafune's control, while Mafune helped repair and upgrade MechaGodzilla, and in exchange Mafune and Katsura would be guaranteed a luxurious life in the aliens' new utopian society on Earth. Mafune accepted despite his daughter's misgivings, and began working on perfecting MechaGodzilla. Mafune told Mugal that in order to be a truly superior machine, MechaGodzilla required organic brain tissue. One night, Mafune unleashed Titanosaurus in Tokyo against Mugal's orders in order to exert his independence from Mugal. Rather than be enraged, Mugal allowed Titanosaurus to rampage, believing that Godzilla would arrive and kill Titanosaurus, but be weakened enough in the process that MechaGodzilla could easily destroy him. Godzilla did arrive and battle Titanosaurus, but Titanosaurus retreated when Katsura was shot and seemingly killed by Interpol. The aliens recovered Katsura's body and modified her existing cybernetic implants to revive her while also installing the controller for MechaGodzilla inside of her. Mugal told Mafune that this was done to follow his advice, giving MechaGodzilla organic brain tissue. Mugal warned Mafune to never disobey him again, to which Mafune agreed. Mafune, distraught with grief, broke down crying next to Katsura and begging her forgiveness, while Mugal simply laughed and walked away. Mugal then moved his force to Mafune's laboratory and rigged his base to self-destruct after MechaGodzilla launched. MechaGodzilla and Titanosaurus both arrived in Tokyo and began to demolish the city, while Akira Ichinose was captured trying to break into Mafune's house to find Katsura. While Godzilla arrived to battle MechaGodzilla and Titanosaurus, Interpol raided Mafune's lab to save Ichinose. Tsuda was killed by Ichinose, while Mugal managed to escape by using Mafune as a human shield. Interpol chased Mugal through the woods, but Mugal merely taunted them and escaped to his spaceship. After defeating MechaGodzilla and Titanosaurus, Godzilla saw Mugal's spaceship flying away and destroyed it with his atomic breath.

Comics

Mugal appears in issue #3 of the IDW miniseries Godzilla: Legends. In this comic, Mugal was the headmaster of a school for training young psychics to communicate with and control kaiju. Working with Miki Saegusa, Mugal appeared to be a kind and understanding headmaster, but was secretly planning an invasion of Earth. Mugal manipulated the student Tristan to control the monster Titanosaurus and draw him to civilization. After seeing Tristan had successfully formed a telepathic link with Titanosaurus, Mugal brought him and Titanosaurus back to his homeworld, where his people were planning to conquer the Earth with their fleet of MechaGodzillas before their homeworld was destroyed by a black hole. After discovering what Mugal was up to and who he really was, Miki contacted him and accused him of being a monster. Mugal assured Miki that he wasn't a monster, just desperate to save his people.

Trivia

Mugal was portrayed by actor Goro Mutsumi, who is also known for portraying the character Dr. Gunpachi Umino in Fireman (Tv series).